Two Halves
by Cecelia Pemberly
Summary: Follow Ella and Payton in the last adventure of the Generations Trilogy. The two twins have conflicts with an old Cutler Beckett, a rich boy and their own parents who have something to hide
1. Sisterhood

Fourteen year old Ella rushed across the room with a tray of drinks balanced on her right hand. The restaurant was filled with people talking about life, the weather, their children or anything else that came to mind. It was one of their busiest times of the day. Ella regretting taking the job when this time of day arrived. She hurried over to her table and brought her tray down in front of her.

"Sorry for the wait, terribly sorry!" She quickly set the mugs of drink on the wooden table. The customers took their drinks right away, shooting her glances that sent shivers up her spine before shaking their heads and taking a sip of the liquids. She rolled the tray under her arm and walked back to the kitchen. She leaned against the wall and sighed to the heavens. She gave the cook several pieces of parchment filled with orders and she walked back outside to survey her other tables. When she saw that one family had left, she pulled out a rag from her apron, dipped it in a bucket close by and began to wipe it off. When she finished, she turned back again, but someone grabbed her shoulders. She turned around flinging her right hand to her left hip realizing that there wasn't a sword there and that it was only Payton.

"You know I hate it when you do that!"

"That's the reason I do it, Ella."

"Naturally." Ella started to untie her apron from around her dress. "Are you here to kidnap me and take me home?" Payton was silent. "PAYTON!"

"Yes! Calm down, Ella. Let's get out of here. Mother and father are probably just leaving Dr. Redders's office, and if we don't get home before they do…" Ella and Payton widened their eyes and stepped back a bit without losing their gaze with each other.

"Never mind! Let's Go!" they shouted in unison, but over the noise of the other customers, they weren't heard as much as they would in the middle of town. Payton and Ella giggled as they quoted their grandpa Will from a story they had heard. Ella pushed the door to the kitchen open before throwing her apron to her night shift girl and running out the door with Payton.

The sun was setting over the sea as they walked down the street. Payton's skirt dragged on the dirt road but she didn't care. She was thinking about what had happened earlier that day. She had been walking to get Ella from work when she saw Thomas, the boy who had been on her mind since she was 10 years old. He was the son of a Navy officer so his clothes were always neat, along with his dashing blond hair, which was parted on the side. He was tall, about 6 ft, but only about 4 inches taller than herself and Ella. Payton never talked to him but that all changed that day.

That night at dinner, Ella spoke up since no one else did.

"Mr. Gillette stopped in today, mama." Brianna looked up from her plate.

"Oh really? What is he doing at Robin's?"

"He just wanted to talk for a bit and have a bit of tea."

"I had no idea that Robin's restaurant sold tea!"

"Well now you know, mama! He came in and I don't even think he knew I worked there." Ella's voice was high pitched and almost baby-like when she got excited. Payton looked at her with disinterest. Most of the time, around her family, Payton didn't smile or show much emotion. It was almost like she was concentrating on something even time she was with her parents.

Ella and Payton laid in Ella bed with a vibrantly colored quilt over them. A single candle sat on the nightstand, illuminating that corner of the room. The quilt was stitched by Grandma Elizabeth when they were fist born as their baby quilt, yet it was big enough to cover the full sized beds they had. Since they didn't want to get into a conflict, the quilt didn't remain in Ella's or Payton's bedroom. It was stored on a shelf down the hall and was only pulled out at night when the girls did their night talks.

Payton was half asleep.

"Thomas is just what a young man ought to be…sensible…good humored…"

"Handsome…conveniently rich!" Ella added smiling.

"You know very well I don't believe dating should be driven by lots of money!"

"I agree entirely!" Ella said in the middle of Payton's objection. "Only the deepest love will persuade me into dating and matrimony which is why I will end up an old maid."

"Do you really think he liked me, Ella?"

"Payton, from what you told me, he probably danced with you most of the day and stared at you for the rest of it." Payton smiled. "But I give you leave to like him, you could like many a stupider person. Now you're a great deal too apt to like people in general you know. You need to like people that no one else sees."

"Naturally, but that's probably because I'm different."

"I swear Payton, in the centuries to come I bet there will only be a handful of girls like you."

"I would guess so."

"If you could name that group of people, what would you call them, Tonboys?"

"No…" Payton said smiling and letting out a sigh. "_Tom_boys."


	2. Wondering

"Mamaaaaa!" yelled Ella as she ran down the stairs with Payton following close behind.

"Ellaaaa!" Brianna replied as she walked through the foyer in her usual work gown and bonnet. William was grabbing his bag and heading toward the door.

"We're going to see Grandpa James, mum," Payton told her as they both arrived at the bottom of the steps. "We have our gowns on as you can see. We just need our traveling cloaks."

"We know they are in the closet, we just wanted to tell you where we are going," Ella added.

"Ok. But before you leave, girls, we aren't going into the office today but instead to Lord Beckett's manor," William said as he opened the door. Ella and Payton froze.

"May I ask why, papa?" Ella asked as she walked toward the closet.

"Lord Beckett has fallen dreadfully ill and we need to get him here." Payton and Ella's stomachs lurched at the same time.

"Here?" they asked in unison, completely perplexed.

"Yes here," Brianna replied.

"But why?"

"He needs 24 hour surveillance."

"How is bringing him here going to help if you two are at the office?" Payton asked as she pulled her black as pitch traveling cloak, and Ella's pearl white one out of the closet. Brianna shot them a sly grin. "Oh no…no no no NO!"

"You will take care of him when we are gone."

"NO!" Payton and Ella almost fell to the ground. Brianna cocked her hand and sighed out of disappointment. "Mama, we have jobs!"

"We provide perfectly enough income to keep this fine estate up and running," William counter argued.

"Give me one reason that he shouldn't stay in this house when he is in such a condition?"

"He's ridiculous!" They shouted in unison again.

"You two are being ridiculous," Brianna said in a slightly annoyed tone as she walked toward the door, pulling on her bonnet and traveling cloak of a dark navy blue with gold ribbon tying around her neck. Payton approached Brianna.

"Mum, please don't tell me he's staying in-"

"The guest room."

"NO!" Payton stomped her foot on the ground, since her bedroom was right next to the guestroom. "Now I'll have to listen to his complaints all night and day!" Ella came up behind her and hugged her neck and whispered into her ear, "Maybe we can get him into the cellar, after all, that is all he really needs for a man of his stature."

When the arrived at James's manor, Ella knocked on the door and a younger maid opened it.

"Good morning, ladies!" she greeted in a very happy tone that would cheer anyone up, and Payton and Ella really needed to be cheered up.

"Good morning Miss Chelsea," they recited.

"Your grandfather is upstairs in his study. Be sure to knock first."

"As always." They started upstairs, taking off their bonnets and letting them hang from their necks. They came to visit Grandpa James once a week on a day that both of them didn't have to work. Outside the study, before Ella had time to put her index finger's knuckle to the door, both of them heard two men talking. Being the girls that they were, they put their ears to the door and listened.

"He's near death Andrew, after all, he is getting very old."

"He's 74 years old and yet he hasn't given up his position in the East India Company."

"He is one of those men who wants to keep power as long as he can and for him that probably means until he dies."

"He has no children correct?"

"Correct."

"Then the position is more than likely going to-"

"-his most loyal employee!" At this point, Ella knocked on the door, both of them slightly nervous.

"Come in," James beckoned. They walked in slowly and saw Andrew sitting in an armchair across from James whom had a book on his lap. "Oh, good morning girls."

"Good morning grandpa, Mr. Gillette." They bowed their head to both of them. Payton walked over to the bookshelf and slid a book into place.

"You finished it already?" James asked looking at her.

"It was very interesting. Even if it was a work on nonfiction, pirates do seem interesting, yet they are dirty scum," Payton replied. "I did read about one though that really caught my attention. He was one of the few pirates who had a child whom no one really wrote about, or at least I couldn't find it in that book."

"Oh? And who was that?" James asked.

"Hector and Patella Barbossa?" James and Andrew's hearts dropped.

"What a coincidence, because I know quite a bit about their child, for example, she is married and has children of her own, she killed her father out of hate for killing her mother with a pistol, she's never touched a gun since her mother died and when she kills her victim, she always stabs them in the back," James explained.

"Which is how she got the nickname Captain Backstabber," Andrew added.

"Where do you get all this information?" Ella asked. "I read that bit too and I couldn't find anything about their daughter."

"We know her personally."

"_You_ know a _pirate _personally?" Ella asked again, perplexed.

"I know quite a few pirates personally. Would you like me to name some?" James asked. Both of the girls nodded.

"Jack Sparrow." Ella turned to Payton.

"Isn't that the man who helped mama out of the water when papa first met her?"

"I believe so…but she never said that he was a pirate," Payton replied. "Go on."

"Joshamee Gibbs." Ella nor Payton recalled the name.

"Elizabeth Swann," Andrew added. Ella wanted to say that was their grandmother, but she wasn't sure since they were never told her maiden name. "Will Turner the second."

"Grandpa Will?" Payton asked, but James kept spitting out names.

"William Turner the third."

"Papa?" Ella asked, but there was no answer from either of the men.

"And…Brianna Turner." Both of the girls fell silent and they looked at each other blankly.

"Mama?" they asked together. James and Andrew only smiled and then together said,

"Captain Backstabber." Ella and Payton didn't say a word but they sat down completely overwhelmed. "Have you not heard the stories?" The girls didn't answer. "Would you like to hear them?" They nodded.

Upon arriving home, the twins went upstairs to the guestroom to see if their parents had returned, and when they walked in they saw William leaning over the bed, pouring something into Beckett's mouth.

"Oh, good afternoon girls!" William said when he saw them walk in. "How was you day with Grandpa James?"

"Full of stories as usual," Ella replied. "And how is Mr. Beckett fairing?" Beckett groaned softly and rolled his head to the side with his eyes closed.

"Mostly we fear that means 'not so well.' He isn't as bad as we thought that he would be, but he's still too weak to walk up the stairs himself."

"Ah, well, do you know where mum is?" Payton asked.

"In the kitchen, most likely."

"Thank you!" they recited as they flew out of the room and down the steps to the kitchen where Brianna was mixing herbs for a remedy.

"Hola, mama!"

"Hola, hijas! Let me guess that Mr. Gillette was also visiting today?" The twins nodded.

"He told us about the legend of Captain Backstabber."

Brianna dropped the bowl of ingredients and the bowl shattered. Herbs flew everywhere.

"James likes to put people he knows into his stories, mum, because he put you, dad, Mr. Gillette and himself into a story that couldn't possibly be true," Payton explained.

"Yes, very much like my stories that I told you as little girls."

"Once upon a time there were two little angels named Payton and Ella!" the twins sang as if they had heard it just a few seconds before. Brianna couldn't help but laugh, but she was frightened. As she picked up the herbs and cleaned up the water she thought to herself "Papa, you've really done it this time."

That night, Payton lay awake with her eyes wide open. Beckett groaned and asked favors for Brianna and William. She tried to pull her pillow over her head and to burry herself in her blankets, but nothing would drain out the noise.

She waited an hour for him to fall asleep, but he was still restless. "I can't take this anymore!" She said as she flew out of bed, throwing her sheets to the side. She put on her robe and slippers and opened the door quietly so her mother and father couldn't hear. Payton walked down the hall dodging the creaky floorboards to Ella's room. Opening the door as quietly as she could, she snuck in, but Ella was a light sleeper. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before lighting her bedside candle.

"Is Mr. Beckett that loud?"

"He's the next level of obnoxious!" Payton replied as she climbed into Ella's bed.

"At least we know our namesake now…or at least I think that's where we got it," Ella informed.

"Patella as our namesake makes more sense then anything else. Mine's a little mixed though. I have the PAT somewhere in my name but it's not direct like yours."

"True." Everything was silent for a few moments before Ella spoke up again. "You can stay here until he is out of here or he dies."

"I like my bed. It makes me want to commit murder…"


	3. Legends

Brianna tossed and turned in her bed as she dreamt a dream that was worse than her mother getting shot. It seemed so real to her, but she couldn't feel anything happening around her. She flashed back to events passed. Each time they got worse.

She slips in a puddle and starts to dance to the music of the waves.

"They know about me now," she thought in her dreams. "What kind of mother am I?"

Off goes Anamaria's braid.

"I hate liars and I hate hypocrites. Now I am the two people I hate the most."

A pirate swipes his blade across William's back.

"What can I tell them now? I already said that James's stories were a boodle of balderdash."

Brianna performs a side kick to a pirate's stomach, dazing him long enough for her to stab him.

"I can't change my past, or forget it for that matter."

Her muscle's strain from her final battle with her father.

"I committed murder to half a dozen people before I was 15. I've murdered dozens of people since then until I was an intern."

She falls into the freezing see with blood pouring out her wound and salt rushing in.

"I need to tell my girls the truth or else something I will regret for the rest of my life will happen."

Her father points his gun at Andrew.

"But if I do show them my true life, they could get hurt a lot more."

Barbossa hits James in the head with the butt of his pistol.

"I need to show them. It's the only way."

Brianna stabs her father through the back.

"I am Captain Backstabber."


	4. Petrified

One week passed slowly with Beckett in the Turner house. When they were at the office, Payton and Ella was stuck inside on the most gorgeous days of the year to watch over the man. But they were witnessing something completely out of their experience…complete and absolute power that was slowly dying away.

One day while they were watching him, Ella was sitting in a bedside chair that was supposed to be used for visitors. Sadly, he never had anyone visit. Payton was pacing back and forth in front of the doorway. She looked at Beckett who was slightly awake, but he would fade in and out of consciousness every few minutes.

"Sing something else," he groaned, rolling his head to the other side of his pillow.

"Mr. Beckett, we don't know anything else," Payton replied quickly, slightly annoyed. They had been singing for almost an hour with only small breaks in-between.

"What about that song we saw in the book that mama gave us the music to?" Ella asked. Payton dropped her head.

"Fine, but this is the last one, Mr. Beckett." The two girls stood next to each other and took a breath at the same time.

"Yo ho yo ho, a pirate's life for me." Payton's range was much lower than Ella's, or maybe Ella's was much higher than Payton's, but either way, Payton always sung the harmony of the songs.

"We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack," Payton sang.

"Drink up me hearties, yo ho," Ella finished in high octave. They sang the rest of the song, Ella finishing the lines and Payton starting them. By the end of the song, Beckett was smiling with his teeth exposed; something both of them had yet to see.

"So you do believe in pirates," he commented in a slightly less hoarse tone then when they had started.

"We just read a book on them Mr. Beckett," Payton explained.

"Oh, well." He stopped and suddenly, he jumped as if he has just stepped on a rock in bare feet. He started to groan. "Girls, I have to tell you something."

They both ran over in fear.

"Tell, your grandfather, that he needs, to take over, the East, India, Company,"

"Which one?" Ella asked grabbing his wrist.

"James." He rolled his head to the other side. Payton put her hand on his chest.

"Ella…he's…"

"At peace?" she asked, pulling her hand away.

"At peace." Payton stopped. "I'm going to run and get mum. I'd normally send you, but you know I run a lot faster."

"It's no competition. Just go. I'll probably be in my room. I can't stand to see this…corpse."

Payton ran around the corner and she was gone. Ella looked back at Beckett before grabbing the doorknob and though "James."

And she shut the door, encasing it in the darkness.

When Brianna and William returned, they didn't even take off their uniforms. They ran straight up to the guestroom. Ella stayed back. She didn't want to see the corpse. She had seen the man die, and that was too much for her.

"We need to get him out of here," Brianna told William as she ran her fingers over his petrified hand that was frozen in mid air from Ella's hand grabbing it when he died.

"Isn't that obvious? We can't just leave a dead man who was this powerful in our guestroom!" Ella called out. Brianna walked outside. Ella was sitting just outside the door, hugging her legs.

"Ella, it wasn't your fault."

"You don't know that! What if I didn't notice something wrong when I was out of the room or something?" Ella tucked her head between her arms and started to cry even more.

"Ella, believe what you want, but he was 74 with the flu. We were almost sure that he was going to pass on within 2 weeks."

"That may be true, but do you know what it's like to see and feel someone die?" Ella asked, looking up at her mom. Brianna's head jerked up.

"Yes, and it was with someone closer than Mr. Beckett to you."

"Oh yeah, and who was that?" Ella asked frustrated.

"You remember those stories that grandpa James told you during your last visit?" Ella and Payton who had just come out from the guestroom both nodded.

"They were true. My father was Captain Barbossa and he shot my mother and she fell on top of me. I did meet Andrew in a pirate port and I did threaten a man and hurt him to protect your godfather. I killed all my victims with a blade through the back. I've never touched a gun and I never plan to. Truly, coming from the mouth of your mother you believe me!"

Ella and Payton looked at each other.

"We always knew the stories were true-" Payton started

"But we were waiting for you to tell us," Ella finished off. Brianna's jaw dropped.

"Um…mama, we need to tell grandpa something Mr. Beckett said." Before Brianna had time to ask was it was, the two girls were down the stairs and out the door.

The girls arrived at the manor and once again Chelsea answered the door.

"Afternoon ladies and how is Mr. Beckett?"

"Actually, that's why we're here," Payton replied.

"We need to tell our grandfather something."

"Alright then, he's upstairs in his study. Mr. Gillette's here too." The girls ran upstairs and to James's study. They didn't bother to knock today.

"Grandpa!" Ella blurted when they burst in.

"Girls! You know you need to knock," James argued. He had an almost empty brandy glass in his left hand.

"May I ask why you are getting yourself drunk?"

"I'm stressing over if I get the position in the East India Company went that old man dies." 

"That's why we're here! Mr. Beckett just…passed on," Ella forced out. James sat up in his chair and Payton heard two chair legs hit the ground.

"He said to tell you that you can take over!" Payton announced. James jumped into the air and the rest of the wine in the glass spilled onto the floor. Andrew looked at him and this eyes followed his shouts of joy.

"Chelsea!" James called out. In no time at all the young maid was in the doorway. "Fetch another glass of wine to celebrate!"

"Right away sir!" Chelsea scurried away and the twins followed.

"Exactly how many bottles of wine has he gone through this week since Mr. Beckett came to our home?" Ella asked as they entered the kitchen.

"Exactly…4. He and Mr. Gillette both had it. Mr. Gillette isn't a drinker, but Mr. Norrington forced him."

"I can't picture Mr. Gillette as a drinker," Payton replied, looking at Ella.

"Neither could I until Mr. Beckett came down ill." Chelsea spoke with a strong cockney accent. When the twins first met her, she was near impossible to understand. "Yet he is fairly immune to the effects of expensive wine. He doesn't get as drunk as Mr. Norrington."

"I'm sure."


	5. Blackened

Brianna, William, Payton, Ella and their entire family including Andrew all attended the funeral. Most of the other guests were Navy officers. Brianna saw it as the exact opposite of her wedding. No one was talking or laughing. Everything was dark and depressing. Yet, Brianna's mind wasn't on Mr. Beckett or anything else around her. Her mind was planning how to show her daughters what her real life was.

Afterward, as she was walking back to the carriage, she felt a slight tap on the side of her heel. She turned around to see Andrew with his white wooden rod that he used to "see" with in Port Royal.

"You did your best, Miss Brianna," he said softly. He grasped her right shoulder and patted it.

"Thank you, Mr. Gillette. You certainly helped me with the case though. I probably would have forgotten how my mother cured the flu, if you hadn't been on the verge of having one yourself." Brianna looked around. "You haven't seen Payton and Ella have you?"

"…No I haven't…nor have I seen William or James," he said sarcastically. Brianna chuckled softly. She commonly forgets that he's blind because he never shows it.

"Sorry. Well, I best be off to find them." Brianna quickly turned around as she left Andrew standing there in his dark suit and flaming red hair, now streaked gray with age, blowing in the warm midday breeze.

Payton sat in the sand, hugging her legs. The wind blew her hair back and forth as the water washed on her toes. It was so hot, even with the breeze, and she wished that she and Ella knew how to swim so they could go for a swim in the port. Her black dress absorbed the sunlight, heating her whole body up until she had a second of relief when water ran over her callused bare feet. She heard someone come up behind her, but she ignored them and laid back in the sand, only to find herself looking up at Thomas whom was still in his funeral garments.

"I didn't know you liked coming down here," he said as he sat down next to her.

"I usually don't. Ella is still having a fit over this whole ordeal, so she wanted to come down here, and I can't just leave my sister in this state."

"Sometimes it would be better if you weren't so nice, I suppose. Oh, by the way, Mr. Norrington told me that Mr. Gillette told him that he was told by Miss Elizabeth that your mother is looking for you," Thomas said, taking a huge breath.

"Fine th- wait, what?" Payton asked, scratching her head.

"Your mother is looking for you, and she seemed anxious when I saw her. She was so worried that Mr. Gillette told me that she forgot that he was blind and asked if he had _seen_ you." Payton swallowed and supported her head on her knees. They both looked up to see Ella running back with a pineapple she most likely picked from a tree along the shore.

"Oh! Thomas!" Ella exclaimed when she saw him. Thomas only smiled back. "Um…would you like a bite…or two…or three?"

"It would be quite nice," he replied as he took off his black frock, revealing a cream waistcoat underneath.

"Lucky you, being able to pull off some of your layers. Us women can't do so," Payton said in disgust.

"You can do so, but it wouldn't be very modest and ladylike." Ella dropped the pineapple and Payton looked at Thomas with wide eyes and eyebrows that said 'why would you say that?!'

"If that is the way you want to talk then I don't think you should be anywhere around me!" Payton scolded as she stood up, brushing off her skirt. "Good day, Mr. Patterson!" Payton stomped down the beach and Ella followed, leaving the pineapple in the sand. Thomas reached over to grab it, but he scrapped up his hands instead.

Upon arriving home, Payton stormed past her parents and ran upstairs with her heels in her hands. Ella followed close behind, trying to keep up with her sister. Payton threw the door to her room open, and just before she slammed it shut, Ella caught it.

"Can you believe him?!" Payton shouted as she walked across the room. "It's no wonder he didn't have a lady already! He has the looks,"

"But his manners are lacking in modesty and decency," Ella ended. Payton flopped onto her bed.

"My life never goes the way I want." Ella was silent. Payton sat up in bed. "I want to be different! You don't have a man yet! I want one! I want to be different. I don't want to be like you. Get out!" Ella's eyes widened and a small bead of tear formed in the corners of her eyes. "Get OUT!" Ella bit her lip and then ran out of the room bawling. Payton let out a huge breath. Brianna stood in the doorway.

"Payton, your namesake is showing," she said jokingly.

"How so?" Payton asked with attitude in her voice.

"My mother had two sides: a gentle, shy side and a tense, short tempered side. When you were born, you would not…stop…crying." Brianna walked about the room, running her fingers over trinkets subconsciously. "It reminded me of my mother at the beginning of the day, and since Pat came first in her name, you were named Payton."

"You put that much thought into a name?"

"A name lasts forever. I wanted to make it a nice and fitting one."

"Well, you probably never had troubles with a boy. You had one shot, and you hit your target on the first try, in a way."

"You know I don't like analogies dealing with guns."

"Right, I'm just distraught."

"I fully understand. There have been times where I have been so mad that I wanted to shut the world out. It looks like you are beginning to feel what it likes to be like that."

"Oh yeah? And when did you have one of those moments."

"It's the universal answer to all the questions you ask nowadays."

"Your mother's death." Payton sighed. "I just want to be different! I don't want to be a half of a whole. I don't want to be like Ella. I want to be totally, can't-get-any-farther-away different! And I'm going to prove that to you. I just don't know how yet."

Brianna walked out of the room, and Payton followed close behind, but she headed to Ella's room. She opened up the door and Payton saw she was crying.

"Ella, I'm sorry. I'm just…I was so upset over Thomas and I didn't even think before words came out of my mouth. Just…if there's anything you want to talk about, you know I'm your sister."

Ella was silent for a bit.

"I think Mr. Beckett wanted to die, Payton. He told me things about his childhood. His mum and dad were a perfect match before his dad went off with the Navy. He never returned. He lost the father figure in his life. His mum remarried to a new man and she became pregnant with him. But about 5 months afterward, he died suddenly. But she still had the baby. Dr. Redders was only a doctor in training at the time and he helped deliver."

Ella started to cry again.

"Mrs. Beckett had a baby boy and he was born very early, very small. Mrs. Beckett died about an hour after the delivery, leaving Mr. Beckett with a newborn child at 14 years old. Since he wasn't a caretaker, or a woman, he couldn't provide for him, and he died a week later holding onto his thumb. His name was James for his father."

Payton got a lump in the back of her throat.

"Payton, I think that is why he chose Grandpa James. He's not ready. You know I'm good at taking facts and putting them into place. Payton, I think he's going to go insane."

"Or worse."


	6. Heiress

"Girls, wake up!" William whispered as he walked into Ella's room. Payton opened her eyes and groaned. She hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep in her sister's bed. She looked out the window. It was still pitch black outside. Ella sat up and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms.

"Papa, what's wrong?" she asked in a croaky, early morning voice.

"Put these on. Meet me at the docks. Silence anyone you meet, and be quiet," he said. It was an odd request. He threw two sacks onto the bed. Payton literally rolled out of bed and onto the floor, taking a sack with her. It was a potato sack most likely from the kitchen's stores. Ella reached over to her nightstand, pinched the wick and snapped her fingers. A small flame started to burn. It was a talent she always had but could never explain.

Payton opened the sack and inside were clothes, or rags. She couldn't tell in the dark. She pulled out a cream top with stitches below each shoulder and cuffs at the end of each sleeve. There was also a dark brown vest the same length as a waistcoat and pants about the same color that came to just above her knees. At the bottom were boots and a forest green bandana.

"Payton, these clothes look like something the people in the book we borrowed from grandpa would have worn. You don't think…"

"I don't know. Mom wouldn't just leave when she has a job and a family to care for." Ella tied her navy blue bandana around her hair.

"I'm going to go down to the kitchen and get some food. From the way papa was talking, it seems like we'll be gone a while." Ella walked toward the door. Payton slipped behind her changing screen in fear that her father might be outside. She took off her nightgown and put the shirt and vest on.

"These clothes are more comfortable than any funeral gown," she said as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had a piece of dark brown hair hanging between her eyes. She was different now.

Ella sat on the front porch steps with a biscuit in her hand and a bag of food at her side. Not a single lantern was lit in Port Royal. That was strange. There was usually a dozen or so on at night. Maybe it's a new security precaution so thieves and pirates have trouble seeing in the dark. Whatever the reason, she would probably have trouble getting to the docks.

Payton stepped outside, and Ella stood up.

"Ok, what did dad say?" Payton asked.

"To meet him at the docks, be quiet and silence anyone we meet. It seems like code in a way. 'Silence everyone you meet?'" Ella seemed confused.

"I'm not sure what it means, so let's just hope we don't meet anyone."

"Sounds like a plan to me…"

The girls slowly walked through town wearing now shoes to make noise. They had already passed Will's blacksmith shop and they were almost at the docks when suddenly they heard a faint noise. It was like someone holding back a cough in their throat or saying "ahem" with their breath. Ella and Payton stopped. Ella silently drew her sword. She backed up against the wall and Payton followed. Ella poked her head around the corner toward the ally just slightly. There was a figure standing there. She jumped around, put her arm around his neck and put her blade to their throat.

"Ah!" the man said quietly. Ella pulled her blade away.

"Mr. Gillette?" Payton asked.

"Yes," Andrew whispered. In the dark, his face looked paler than usual, probably from shock.

"What are you doing out here?" Ella asked this time.

"Same as you two." Ella and Payton helped pick him off the ground. Ella had pushed him down.

"What's going on?" Payton asked in worry.

"I'll tell you two later. We need to get to the docks." They started to quietly walked toward the ships that had been docked. "Oh and good job at silencing anyone you met, Ella." Ella looked surprised.

"I was going to kill him…," she whispered the Payton. Payton couldn't help but giggle quietly.

Upon arriving at the dock, Payton and Ella's mouths dropped open. In the water, pegged in the sand was a ship bigger than most of the ships docked at the Navy port. It had a mermaid as a figurehead. The sails looked as if they had withstood many battles because they were patched in many different places. On of the lamps on the stern had bent wires and the top half was gone. It was a faded black and it looked worn. When William ushered them onto the ship, they climbed the side ladder with Andrew carefully following behind. The deck was about as worn as the exterior.

"Where's mama?" Ella asked William. He turned and gave her a sly grin.

"Can you light these candles, Ella?" William asked as he motioned to two rows of small candles.

"Fine." Ella knelt down to each one and snapped. When she was done, it was like 20 drops of golden rain were suspended above the deck.

"Now can you please tell us where mom is?" Payton asked. William stepped out of the lane of candles and cleared his throat. Two doors opened and Brianna walked out. Her hair was in tight waves of dark brown and it puffed out from under her oversized hat. She wore a brown coat with many buttons and gathers toward the bottom in the back. She also wore trousers similar to Payton and Ella's: dark brown with a white top and brown vest. Instead of boots though, she was bare footed.

"Welcome my daughters, to the Deep Scars!"


	7. Abnormal

The twins were shocked. They knew of their parents' pasts for a while now. There were hints everywhere. Brianna's hat was hanging with her bonnets in her bedroom. There were swords above the mantle: cutlasses. Andrew knew a lot about pirates and their doings whenever he told stories to them, more than the average navy man. But one big factor was a diary that Ella had found in the study. It was bound with light brown leather with black covers with elegant gold trim around the corners. There was a navy ribbon pressed between two pages. It was nearly filled. It was written in their mother's writing, but it changed throughout the book. At the beginning was a tale of Brianna falling off a Naval ship and William saving her like a valiant man. It continued on with stories of pirate attacks, how James got his permanent limp and how she met Andrew, and then there was a story of the kill that started her reputation. But as the dates got closer to present times, the stories became varied. But the twins loved to read of their birth. They laughed because everyone was fainting all over the place.

The candles brought Andrew into better light. He wasn't wearing his normal uniform, but a raggy one with holes and tears and stains. There were hints of blood on his cuffs. His graying red hair seemed more faded than usual. He wore light brown breaches under a dirty, mud stained waistcoat. Instead of stockings and buckled shoes on his feet, there was a pair of boots with cuffs.

William's hair was hanging freely instead of being tied back. His eyes seemed thinner and colder like those of a rabid dog or a snake. He looked like he was wearing some of their Grandpa Will's clothes. There was a long brown vest like Payton's over a shirt that actually fit. His hair even seemed darker than usual.

Then came Brianna. She was really different. Her usually straight, silky brown hair was now slightly wavy and brittle. It was like her eyes had changed shape from nearly round to sly and thin. Her voice when she spoke to William was lower than usual. Two cutlasses hung at her waist. She looked like a woman, but she wanted to look a lot like a man. You couldn't see her feminine figure.

"What _is_ all this?" Payton asked in a way that sounded almost disgusted.

"Your grandpa Jack passed all of this onto William and me when he died. You never got a chance to know him though."

"Fine then…another question. How are we going to crew this ship? There are only 5 of us!" Ella pointed out.

"And what about grandpa Norrington?" Payton asked. "He will be on our tail when he finds out what's going on."

"All taken care of. A few more crew members are coming when we get to the next port," Brianna said.

"And what about grandpa Norrington?" Ella asked.

"He won't know where we are."

"You two need to go pick bunks. We've got ours," Andrew said. Payton instantly turned around and bolted.

"Hey!" Ella called as she followed behind her. Andrew laughed at the sound of two gracefully girls thundering down the stairs like elephants. Ella was very graceful by Payton was known for tripping over her feet at random times, but her balance was fantastic. Both of them were known for balance and their amazing dancing ability that they inherited from their mother.

Payton ran to a hammock at the far end of the lower deck. She jumped into it and almost fell out but didn't. Ella didn't have such luck. She came to a stop and then slowly crawled in, but she still fell out the other side.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"Where do you think I do most of my reading?" Payton explain.

"In the tree by the shoreline. You look out for Thomas there."

"Don't mention Thomas Patterson."

"Thomas Patterson?" Andrew asked as he came walking down the stairs.

"Do you know of him?" Ella asked.

"I knew his father very well when he was alive and I could see. What did Thomas do to you that is making you upset? I am quite sure that you loved him a few days ago."

"I did. Then he said something not so proper, like he wanted me to take my dress off the day of Mr. Beckett's funeral."

"That doesn't sound at all like Thomas. He was always a young gentleman. Now his older sister is a different story," Andrew said as he sat in his hammock.

"I've met her. She didn't seem to be a ray of sunshine. I would catch glances of her when Thomas and I were dancing and she always looked at me like I was some young woman of inferior birth."

"Marina hasn't been the same since her parents' deaths. Left her suddenly in charge of the family. It was a position she didn't want until she had a husband to help her. She was engaged, but her fiancé never showed up on their wedding day. She soon found out that he was with another lady. Scarred her for life that did. So now she is really protective of her brother. If she considers someone unsuitable, she breaks them up immediately, but through him. She will tell him what to do and if he doesn't do what she says, he's punished."

"Marina needs to get over it," Ella said.

"Ella, you don't know how hard it is to get over things until you experience them. Mr. Beckett's death was a wake up call for you. You had never experienced death before." Andrew yawned. "I need to get some sleep, ladies. You should probably do the same.

"I have no need to argue with that," Payton said. "I wish I had a good book."

"Your mother did tell me to give you this." Andrew pulled a book out of his pocket.

"Mama's diary…" Ella took it and flipped through it's pages.

"Many years ago your mother went on a similar journey. Write your experiences. Pass this diary through the girls in your family. Write in it together. I have a feeling you will want to read it later. Don't break the chain."

"Sounds like a curse to me," Payton said.

"I don't believe in curses," Ella finished. Andrew chuckled

"You best start believing…"


	8. Drowning

Payton sat on the deck hugging her legs as she tried to drain out the noise of the Tortuga port. When she couldn't she walked off the ship. All she wanted right now was peace and quiet to think about what Andrew had said a few days before. Thomas had been acting differently ever since he had danced with her. The pirates that walked the docks, loading and unloading their own ships, eyed her curiously. She was young…younger than any man on the whole island and she was a woman. She assumed that all of the rest of her family was in a tavern on the other side of town. The Faithful Bride was it?

Payton pushed her way through the hoards of drunks and loners. She had to use her fists against a man who tried to pull her into a side ally and of course, because of her soberness, she won. After that, no witnesses to the event set a foot near her.

Once at the tavern, the sound of the hornpipes seemed to fog her mind with their sound. She was drawn to music. Her mother had written in the diary about their sound, but this wasn't how she described it. The sound that they were producing now along side of two fiddles and a flute was that of an Irish dance. There was a crowd gathered around, but she didn't pay any mind. It was probably just Ella finally being outgoing and dancing because if she messed up no one would notice because they were all drunk. She found Brianna and William sitting at a table interviewing pirates for the crew.

"Mama!" she said with excitement.

"Hello Pat!" she said back.

"Where's Ella?" she asked.

"I saw her on the top floor about a half hour ago," William said.

"And Mr. Gillette?"

"Most likely just sitting down somewhere," Brianna said as she wrote another name on a list and motioned toward the door. "Now Payton, your father and I have work to do so we can get out of this rat hole faster. Just go do whatever."

Payton nodded sarcastically.

"Sure I'll leave. Thanks for asking _nicely_!" She stormed off. It didn't take much to get her upset. She heard her mother try to call her back, but she wasn't going to listen. Ella was always the one that got pity around in the family, at least with her parents. Since Payton was more intelligent she was favored among Andrew and James, but Andrew liked both of them the same…at least that's what he said.

Payton ran out of the tavern and to the docks. Whenever she was angry, she always ran away from the problem. It didn't matter where she was going. She didn't exactly want to go to a stuffy, smelly ship. She walked around other sailors to the edge of the dock. She sat down and she kicked her legs back and forth. It was a habit that she, her sister and their mother all had. Then again most women kicked their legs when they were above the ground. The sun was high above her head and if her hair wasn't covering it, her neck would be the color of Andrew's hair. She sighed and rested her elbows on her legs. "I just want to be different or cared for…equally or better than those around me."

"Hey!" Payton turned around. The man whom she had beaten earlier that day was hovering over her. He had a black eye, a swollen cheek, a torn lip and a broken nose.

"Yes?" she said in an annoyed tone.

"Do you know what it's like to be beaten like this?" he asked gesturing to his face.

"If I didn't, I probably wouldn't have done it. I know how much it hurts."

"You say that like you don't care!"

"Does it _look_ like I care at the slightest?"

"I think you need a little disciplining!" He ran up and pushed her backwards. She let out a high pitched scream as she upside down into the port. She couldn't swim and she never tried. She flailed her arms around but couldn't keep afloat. She gasped for breath but only sucked in water. "Ahh!" she screamed again before the waves pulled her under again.

Her hands chopped through the water which only caused her to sink faster. Even thought she knew she couldn't, Payton tried to breathe. The salt water stung her eyes and her hair suffocated her when she sucked in water. She became dizzy and the moment she blacked out, she heard a splash.

When she woke, she was laying on the docks again, looking into the eyes of a red headed woman. She was coughing up water onto her stomach. The woman's hair was dripping at the tips and her clothes were sticking her to body. "Did you?"

"Yes. Please sit up."

"I already get enough orders from my parents, thank you very much."

"And your parents are?"

"Brianna and William Turner." The woman sat up straighter.

"The couple that is taking requests for a crew?"

"Yes…the same." The woman cleared her throat.

"I'm looking for a crew position," she said looking around. "Wait a minute. You're one of the Two Halves!"

"The what?" she asked.

"Two Halves! I saw a girl in the tavern that looked just like you!"

"Yes, I have a twin. But why does that make me a Half?"

"Because your mother is a legend and you are her twin daughters!" she said gleefully.

"When then…thanks for the information, but I really don't feel like talking."

"Please! I'm only trying to help you. Don't you run off! You run and you'll-" Payton felt sick to her stomach and she vomited over the dock. "Yes."

"Where exactly did you see Ella?" Payton asked.

"She was dancing with me. I think I saw you come in."

"To that Irish dance? I didn't think Ella danced to that music. She's more of a ballroom fancy."

"Strange because she danced wonderfully. She's very light on her feet!" Payton started walking back to the tavern without ever looking at the woman. Once inside, she tried not drawing attention to herself.

"Payton! What happened to you?" her mother asked as she stood up.

"Oh! Now you care? _After_ something has happened?"

"Don't talk to me like I don't care about your safety! I have the utmost compassion for you as my daughter."

"So does that mean I'm not your daughter anymore?"

"Payton! Quit being ridiculous!"

"STOP IT!" the woman yelled. "Both of you! Throughout my lifetime I've had fights between my family non stop and I don't need to see it between you two! It's pathetic! Worthless! It doesn't solve anything whether it is in a house on land or on a ship at sea! Just SHOVE IT!" The tavern had fallen quiet at the woman's outburst.

"My word you give your opinion very decidedly. I would be honored to have you on my crew. Pray, what is your name?"

"Andrea."

"Andrea _what_?"

"Andrea Gillette." Payton turned and saw Andrew stand up.

"You've got to be joking!" Brianna said as she finished writing 'Andrea' on her roster.

"Why does that surprise you?" Andrea asked.

"Because I'm part of the crew as well." Andrea turned around to see Andrew standing in front of her.

"My God! You're alive!" she exclaimed.

"I may be alive but I'm at lack of something." Andrea examined him without moving.

"You're blind…" Brianna recognized that tone in her voice. She had reacted the same way with the same words 20 years ago.

"Yes, I am."

"But are you telling me that you have heard of my mother's story," Payton started

"But you haven't heard the bits that include your brother?" Ella finished. Andrea shook her head. "If your brother hadn't been on the voyage 20 years ago,"

"And if he hadn't been at the battle that started my mum's reputation,"

"There would be no Captain Backstabber!" Ella concluded.

"No Two Halves!"

"None of this would be happening right now," William cut in.

"And if your brother wasn't on the voyage, he would be _dead_," Brianna informed Andrea.

"How so?" she asked.

"I was close to death when they found me," said Andrew. "If I hadn't drawn accidental attention to myself, I wouldn't have been discovered in the first place."

"What happened?" Andrea asked.

"He shot our grandfather in the leg," Ella said.

"And your grandfather is?"

"James Norrington." Andrea rolled and closed her eyes and threw her head back a bit.

"Of course…"

"But to tell you the rest of story," Payton said

"We'd have to be here all night!" Ella exclaimed.

"We'll let you read it back at the ship," Payton explained. "Just promise to never order me around like you did again."

"I promise."


	9. Discover

Ella paced back and forth on the deck. She didn't want to stay downstairs because of the heat. She stayed close to the railing, due to the fact that she hadn't quite gotten used to the ship. Every 10 minutes or so, more of her last meal would be recycled into the sea. She didn't want to go to her mom for anything though. That babyish behavior was the reason Payton acted in the manner she had and almost got herself killed.

"Three days out of Tortuga and you still can't keep your lunch?" Payton asked as she walked up to her.

"I'm sorry my body isn't as strong as yours." Ella gagged. "At least not my stomach."

"You are strong, Ella. You just need to learn to show it. I won't always be around to protect you, you know."

"Yes, but I'm trying to enjoy the time you are here."

"Do you want to know why I ran?"

"Do tell."

"Because I'm jealous of you."

"Why would you be jealous of…_me_?" Ella asked, slightly confused but disgusted at the same time.

"Why you ask? When I would fall, mum and dad would tell me to walk it off. If you would fall, they'd pick you up and carry you home." Payton looked up at the sky and sighed. "In a comparison to something easy to understand…they treat me as a strong man that never gets hurt and when they do, mum and dad see it as nothing. They treat you as a house cat, cuddling you, caring for you, not letting you out of their sight."

"That's a disadvantage to me! I hate being the baby of the family! You don't know how much I wish I could go out and do something. I wish I could go home from work on my own instead of waiting for you. I wish I could go out on my own. I want to be independent…but that is a pleasure that you received."

"Independence isn't always a blessing, Ella. If something happens to me, who knows how much time it will be before mum or dad finds me."

"Quit talking like that…you're being stupid." Ella paused. "Oh! That's right! You're favored by Andrew and James for your intelligence!"

"At least you're favored by _your_ own parents!" Payton snapped at her sister. She hadn't done that at all until recently. Now she was furious at her. She stomped off and when Payton was out of sight, Ella puked over the railing again.

Payton ran to the lower deck and she flopped into her hammock. All over her emotions rocked her head like a ship. She suddenly had a headache, the kind that felt like a bullet was trying to get out of your head. She put her hand over her forehead in a desperate attempt to sooth the throbbing.

Andrew leaned against the railing of the wheel deck. He felt the rocking of the ship, the smell of the salt in the water and he tasted it too. Andrea walked over to him. "I just heard something."

"Still an eavesdropper then?" Andrew asked.

"It was kind of hard not to hear it. Didn't you hear the girls?"

"Oh…that." His voice faded off.

"Was Ella right?"

"Excuse me?"

"Was Ella right about you favoring Payton because of her intelligence?" Andrea eyed him curiously.

"Of course not!"

"I know that voice, Andrew. It's a lie."

"Ella is the baby of the family. Because of that, Brianna is careful around her. Payton is often ignored, at least lately. Brianna probably believes that she, unlike Ella, has the strength to do these types of things on her own. But because Payton really feels as if her parents neglect her, I feel like I should be someone for her to run too."

"But Ella thinks that you _favor_ her. And I also heard that Ella wishes that she had a chance to show Brianna and William at she can do just as much as Payton can, but she's never given that chance."

"She has had the chance for years, but she isn't willing do break a few rules."

"You are acting like she's nothing. You know that I don't like fights within families, so I'm not going to argue over a fight, but if you want Ella to know that, I expect you to-"

She never got to finish her sentence. The ship bounced. Everyone fell forward. Andrew fell onto a barrel and pulled it over. Andrea fell on top of him. Ella was leaning over the railing, gagging, and she nearly fell overboard. Payton tumbled out of her hammock and nearly had a heart attack out of shock. Ella looked over at Andrew who was swearing up a storm. She and Andrea shared the same reaction of widened eyes and dropped jaws. Payton came running up the stairs.

"What the hell was that?!" she shouted. She looked at William whose face was as white as the X on the British flag.

"Jack told me something…" Brianna looked over the railing. "Get away from there!" He pulled her away and brought her close to him. "He told me about the-"

"Ship!" called the pirate in the crows nest. Brianna scrambled up the main mast and grabbed the spyglass our of the pirate's hands. Through the foggy image she saw it.

"It's the _Flying Dutchman_!"

Everyone scattered down below. "The Kraken!" shouted William. "Everyone to stations! Deck gunners, abandon guns and pick up blades and muskets!" He turned to his daughters. "You two-"

"Papa! Move!" they shouted in unison, but it was too late. A giant tentacle came up and hit him backwards onto his back. The twins screamed and Ella drew her sword. Payton panicked. She was never trained to handle weapons, only her fists and her own body.

Brianna didn't allow pistols on her ship, but muskets were fine. They weren't as convenient and someone could get out of the way in time.

Salt water splashed into Ella's eyes when a tentacle whipped the water onto the deck. Musket shots and metal against the slimy, tough skin of the Kraken filled the air with the gagging smell of blood. It sent a shiver up Brianna's spine. She looked over at Andrea. When she had talked to her back in Tortuga, she had found that she was due to have a child. Andrea was in her late 30s and her husband had died a few months before on a ship due to disease as she was told by the ship's captain. One wrong move now and a person who had not yet seen the outside world would be killed.

Brianna looked over at Andrew. "Get down!" she yelled as she ran and dove at him as a tentacle was swiping across the upper deck. Brianna covered her head as the debris flew and she gritted her teeth. She had just broken her ankle, or she was pretty close to doing so.

"What was that?!" he exclaimed.

"Just a giant Kraken tentacle that nearly knocked you overboard."

Ella stabbed her sword through one of the Kraken's arms. It curled tightly in pain and she ducked as it grabbed for her torso. She looked at her sister who was reloading a musket. She aimed the gun upward and pulled the trigger, pushing the butt of the gun into her shoulder. The bullet flew into one of the suction cups. The giant squid bellowed. Payton quickly ran away as it came down powerfully on the deck. Another arm grabbed for her and she was thrown backwards into the sea.

Payton flailed to keep above water, but she couldn't breathe above the water. She sunk below the water and sucked in.

She could breathe.

Payton felt behind her ears. Gills. There was another splash when a tentacle pulled Ella below the water. Payton sucked in again. Now she couldn't breathe. She didn't know why. Her gills were suddenly gone. She was drowning again. The Kraken grabbed the girls' ankles and pulled them toward the _Dutchman_.

The Kraken whipped them onto a deck that was covered in barnacles and seaweed and loose debris. They coughed up water onto the slimy wood. Payton's stomach muscles were sore but Ella's were worse from puking. Both of the girls felt like they had just lost fights with a blow to the lower torso. They soon realized that they were surrounded.

"Get up!" shouted a female voice. She sounded young, maybe in her early 30s. The girls looked up and Payton was shocked. This was the woman she had asked her grandpa James about. She was barely recognizable from the book picture.

It was their grandma Patella.

She blended with the ship. Her coat, and boots and every other piece of clothing were covered in seaweed and muscles. Her flesh was a discolored yellow-green. Under her eyes were two shells like scallops. Her hair was made of squid tentacles that were writhing and curling behind her. One thing though was what identified her: a bullet hole on her right by her heart.

"You…you can't be…you're too young!" Ella stammered. "If you were our grandmother, you would be," she counted in her head. "Fifty nine years old! And…YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

"I was."

Ella and Payton's faces went pale like sheets, or from the stories they were told, like ghosts.

Brianna sat on a barrel sobbing because of her ankle, but bawling because her daughters were gone. William wrapped her ankle in cloth with great discomfort due to a gash on his shoulder. Brianna cleaned the wound and wrapped it up.

"Brianna, it's not your fault."

"You I hadn't even brought them out here in the first place, my babies wouldn't be dead."

"You know that they would need to take care of themselves eventually. Ella especially. I could tell that she feels like she's being overprotected."

"I was protecting her like that so something like this wouldn't happen."

"Maybe if you had let her be free, she would have known how to handle the matter."

"Like Payton? She's gone too!" William only sighed. He could only let her cry it out.


	10. Changes

Chelsea looked out the window as she washed another dish. The sun was just below the top of the window. Another week had gone by and Payton and Ella have failed to come and visit. She sighed and kept working. They were never late. She heard the front door open and James walked in. She started walking toward him to take his coat and hat, but he hung them up himself. She eyed him curiously. He started walking up the stairs coughing. "Sir, are you well?" He didn't answer. "Sir?" He finally turned around when he was at the top of the stairs.

"So Payton and Ella haven't been over in two weeks?" he asked.

"No, sir. They haven't."

"I just went over to their house so Brianna could give me a remedy, and the house was locked up and empty. Since she gave me a key a while back, I was able to get in. Her uniform and William's too were hanging up in the closet. Ella and Payton's beds were cold and unmade. The food in the kitchen was stale or spoiled. Miss Chelsea, they haven't come because they are gone."

Patella stared at them. "You want to know, right?" They nodded with their frightened expressions. "Fine then. I was shot, as you know, when I was 32 years old, when your mother was only 7. My husband threw me overboard with a cannonball on both of my knees. I sank and I was grabbed up by the Kraken and taken here. Davy Jones was able to bring me back, but only half alive. He reluctantly kept me on the ship since I was a woman, but since I said I would pay the price of 100 years of service, he let me stay.

"Then, I learned of this heart, where if you stabbed it, you would take the captain's place. Sail the seas forever, transporting souls to the next world. It all sounded like a way to escape. A way to escape my past, my husband and my daughter."

"Why would you want to escape mum?" Ella asked.

"Since she was a MISTAKE!" she hollered. The girls jumped. "She was a mistake. I was drunk in Tortuga when I met him. I didn't mean to! I was just drunk and an idiotic 25 year old!"

"But you still loved her. She told us. And she always loved you back!" Payton explained.

"I loved her yes. She is a living breathing beautiful child. She wanted to dance and I loved the idea. But her father did not. Once I saw the way that he acted toward her, I realized something. He was part of her and she could be capable of that. Please tell me, was she? Is she still the innocent little girl I loved?"

"Not necessarily. She killed your husband. She only kills for self defense though." Patella's eyes turned into slits. "Killing is killing no matter how you look at it."

"She got that from you! She hated it when she killed her first pirate in the battle to kill her father! She felt guilty and she felt sick! She wrote about it in her diary."

"So she is still innocent? Does she help people?"

"She and her husband are doctors."

"I remember that now. Your father was the one that delivered you two. Little do you two know is that I have been following you and your mother and father ever since my death." Patella laughed. "I have been keeping her alive so she could kill the man that ruined my life."

"How come you are still keeping her alive if that deed is done then?" Ella asked.

"Because I can't just kill her. She is my baby girl! But she is starting to take my energy away. I have been working on you two. Payton, who do you think it was that sent Andrea into the water after you two weeks ago? Who was it that gave you gills just today?"

"But they went away!"

"Only because both of you were under at the same time. I couldn't give both of you gills at the same time."

"Why did you bring us here?" Ella asked.

"Well I needed to meet you. Plus I need one of you to take my place. You both have a bit of me from when you were born." She snapped her fingers, and a flame erupted. Ella's eyes widened.

"What do I have of you?" Payton asked in an ordering tone

"You can change your appearance. Anything you would like as long as you are still a human."

"Are you joking?! That's all I've wanted my whole life is to be different!"

"Being different isn't always good. But show me what you would look like. Just image every little detail." Payton thought of people that she wanted to be like, or just people she had seen. Her nose, her teeth, her eyes. Every little detail of her body. She opened her eyes. Patella and Ella's eyes were wide.

"Payton…" Ella said as she shook her head. Payton looked at herself. She didn't see anything different about her.

"What?" She looked at the other two. They sighed.

"Good, it wasn't permanent."

"What happened to me?"

"For a few seconds, I had…a brother." Patella looked at them both.

"You two go down and find bunks. I need to visit your mother." The girls sat there for a minute before shrugging and running down the stairs. There were dozens of men that were covered in more sea bottom organisms than Patella. It scared both of them out of their skins. They both screamed at the same time. Everyone looked at them as they cautiously looked for two bunks. They ended up on opposite sides of the room. Payton slowly climbed into the hammock she swore was made of seaweed. Before she was able to put her head down, a…thing…with two heads came up to her and yelled, "What do you think you're doing?" said the one on the left. "Just because you're new around here doesn't mean that you can take a day off." "You or your sister." Payton couldn't talk. She felt like punching them in the…faces, which is what she did. They fell back on the ground. The whole room fell silent.

William walked across the deck, checking those who are wounded and looking for casualties. Brianna was over checking Andrea, making sure that she and her unborn child were still ok. She had a mound on her stomach that moved slightly. Andrea's eyes widened.

"Don't worry, dear, it's just the baby's head." Her eyes got even bigger. "You should be careful what you do around here. You can take my quarters."

"You sure?"

"I've been pregnant with twins, deary. I know that at about this point, your life starts to really get painful."

"I…I just wish that my brother could see his niece or nephew when they are born."

"I wish he could see my two girls. They are his god children." They looked over at Andrew. All of a sudden he fell backward with a "huh!" like he was just punched in the stomach

"Oh my goodness!" Andrea exclaimed. She ran over to him and knelt down. Brianna limped to the center of the deck. Patella emerged from the main mast.

"Dear lord," she said.

"Don't you recognize me?" Patella asked. "You don't recognize your own mother?"

"What did you do to my babies?" she said nearly crying.

"Oh…now what fun would that be if I told you?"

"Ok then…what did you do to Andrew?"

"Gave him your wish. I've always tried to make you happy."

"You making me happy always came with a price. The only wish I had was to dance and because it came true, you were killed and dad gave me this." She pulled her hair back to show her the bruise.

"I know. Because of that you have been alive all these years. Remember saying 'do you know how many life threatening situations I've survived' or something of that nature? I've kept you alive all these years."

"You mean that was why her scar turned black and then nearly blinded me when I dove off the Dauntless to save her the day I met her?" William asked as he tried to get the blade of a sword out of a man's arm that was thrown by the Kraken. Patella nodded.

"But don't worry. Your girls are fine." And with that, she left.

That night, Payton was sleeping semi peacefully. Patella walked up to her. "She wanted to look like that…I'll give it to her." She put her hand on Payton's head and Payton sounded like she was having a horrible dream. She then walked over to Ella. "I can't have you telling anything." She touched her head and picked her out of her hammock. She took her to the upper deck and put her in a longboat, lowered it and sent it toward the _Deep Scars_ "You aren't the one I need."


	11. Hatred

The next morning Payton awoke to the two headed creature tipping over her hammock. She fell to the ground and rubbed her head. The two heads looked at her and she immediately knew that they regretted doing what they had just done. But she got up and just stood there, then out of nowhere she swiped her foot across their ankles and they fell to the ground.

She stumbled to the other side of the room to see if Ella was still asleep. Her hammock was empty. She thought for a moment that she had already gotten up and was on deck. She always woke up before she did anyways. Payton climbed onto the deck and looked around. Ella would have to stand out, but she couldn't find her anywhere. She ran over to Patella who was watching the sea go by.

"Where is my sister?" Payton asked.

"By now she is probably aboard the _Pearl_!"

"The _what_?" Payton asked, because she hadn't heard of a ship called the _Black Pearl_ except in her mother's diary.

"Your mother's ship. Sent her back last night!" Patella said with a smile.

"You sent her away?! Why?!"

"I only need one of you, and I chose you. You are my first mate." Payton didn't say a word. She only ran toward the back of the ship to see if the ship was in view. It wasn't.

"Ella!" Payton called out, even thought she knew her sister couldn't hear her. She ran her fingers through her hair. She walked back to the middle of the deck and the crew started laughing. "What's so funny?" she asked. They tried to hold back laughter.

"Why are you walking like a lady?" one asked. Payton looked at her feet. One was right in front of the other. She was taught to walk like that.

"Maybe because I am a lady and I've always walked like this?" she said mockingly. The crew burst out in a roar of laughter. She ran to the railing and looked at herself. She didn't see anything different, but something was terribly wrong.

"What are you doing?" Patella asked. She held a rum bottle in her hand now. Payton shook her head low.

"I don't know what has happened to me…" Patella smirked.

"You don't know?" Payton shook her head again. "Let's just say that Payton can be a lady's," she poured a bit of rum on Payton and she fell to the ground, spazzing in pain. "or a man's name." Patella slapped her. "Stop it!"

"It's not my fault! What was that?"

"I need a way to control you don't I?" Payton scrambled to her feet. She looked over the edge to see someone other than herself. She saw a young boy with seaweed hair, muscles and clothes made of organisms from the sea bottom. A tear escaped from the corner of her eye. As it landed in the water, the reflection rippled and she saw her old self. This time, when she looked at her hand, she saw the large hand of a teenage boy discolored from her bond to her grandmother that she never chose to serve.

"Ella!" Brianna exclaimed as Ella opened her eyes. "Thank the lord you're alive!" Ella sat up and looked around. She was in the hammock she had started the journey with.

"Where's Payton?" she asked. Brianna didn't speak. She bowed her head.

"I-I don't know…"

"Then how did I get here?"

"I found you in a longboat by the ship in the early morning hours. You were alone. Do you remember anything?" Ella shook her head.

"Everything after the Kraken attack is a blur. I don't know anything!" She started crying.

"Please, baby, don't cry." Brianna hugged her daughter and Ella found her face buried in her mother's chest like she did as a young girl. "Don't cry." The moment was ruined by Andrew suddenly screaming. "What's wrong?"

"I…I can see…"

James sat at his desk, his glasses halfway down his nose. The morning sun shone through his windows casting cross shaped shadows onto his papers. He had been out at sea for a few days now. Chelsea sat in a corner of his office reading a book. It was quiet. Theodore Groves walked in "Ah, good morning Captain." Theodore nodded. "Listen. I need Mr. Patterson in here now."

"Mr. Patterson is dead…"

"His _son_, Groves." Theodore nodded quickly. James shook his head and he coughed a few times. Chelsea looked up from her book. "Are you ok sir?"

"Fine, just that Brianna hasn't been around so I have been sick…" Chelsea nodded. Thomas walked in the office in full uniform.

"You summoned me, sir?" Thomas stood straight with his hands behind his back

"Yes. I believe you are close to Payton?" Thomas looked down.

"I was." James eyed curiously. "I said something that offended her the day of m-" he paused "Mr. Beckett's funeral. Since then she hasn't spoken to me"

"I see. Did she say anything to you before that day that may hint her whereabouts?" Thomas thought for a second, but then he shook his head no. James nodded in understanding. "Did you hear anything from Brianna that day?"

"Nothing that would help you, sir."

"Do you know when they left?" Chelsea asked this time.

"I went to leave a letter of apology at their home, but they weren't there. That was two weeks ago. From the looks of it, they had been gone a few days." Chelsea looked up for a bit.

"Sir, do you recall anything missing from the house that may say something?" James thought for a moment. He propped his head up on his knuckles. Then they could tell when he thought of something. He jerked his head up.

"Her hat was gone…along with those two cutlasses above the mantle. She must have gone to show her life to the girls." Marina walked past the office. "Marina! Get in here!" James called. She stopped and walked in. "What's that you're reading?"

"A letter, sir."

"I see that. A letter addressed to your brother…in Payton's handwriting." Thomas jumped at his sister.

"Give me that! It's addressed to me! If you can't read my name I don't know how you're reading that letter!"

"Settle down, boy!" James hollered. Then he remembered that's also how he addressed his son in law. "Now, Marina, why are you reading your brother's letter?"

"I need to see if it's-"

"Suitable! I know!" Thomas finished. "Just give me the letter. Marina, why don't you leave me to my own choices? They may be better than yours." Thomas yanked the letter out of Marina's pale hands. He began to read. "It's dated 2 and a half weeks ago."

"Does it say anything that could help us?" James asked. Thomas's eyes scanned the letter.

_Dear Thomas,_

_I'm sorry about how I acted. I was very moody that day__ because of the funeral and all. But you still shouldn't have said that. Yet it doesn't sound like something you could think of on your own._

_Anyways, we are going away for a while. I don't know what's going on and I don't know why, but it must be something urgent. I don't know when or if I'll be back._

_So to cut things short since I don't have a lot of time, I wanted to say that I loved you and I always will, Please forgive me for my appalling behavior._

_Payton E. Turner_

"Well that was a ship load of information," Marina said sarcastically.

"Well if you had given me the letter 2 and a half weeks ago, we probably would have had them in Tortuga by now!"

"Tortuga!" James exclaimed. "Someone is bound to know where they were headed!"

"But sir, we have been out for 3 days. We would have gotten there already if we had headed there in the first place," Marina pointed out.

"Then we can't be that far off. We'll head that way and be there in a few more days." Marina's face hardened.

"A few days off was what killed our father, sir. Had he gone in the direction he had been going instead of turning around, he would have never collided with that ship that sunk them."

"It's a risk we need to take." James stood up and walked down the hall and up to the main deck. It was hot and humid. James coughed…and coughed…and coughed.

"Sir?" Chelsea asked. James gripped his cane tighter. He had been using it on and off since he was shot in the leg, but now it was his age. He doubled over. "SIR?!" Chelsea cried. She and Thomas ran over to him while Marina ran for water. James swore under his breath, cursing the heat and the sea. They brought him to the bow and had him sit. Marina brought a few glasses of water to him and he drank them like he hadn't seen water in ages. Theodore came up behind them. Thomas turned to look at him.

"Captain Groves, turn this ship around. Your commander isn't fit for this." Theodore nodded and ran to the wheel, slowly turning it to the left until it was traveling against its wake.


	12. Captured

**Okay, for this chapter, I stole some stuff from the movies. I saw them and after hearing the music, I was like "I can change that to fit my characters" so I did. Don't kill me! **

* * *

Payton stood with her head and arms on the railing of the _Dutchman_. It was getting dark and the sea was a purplish blue as the moon rose higher in the sky. No one was really doing anything, at least she wasn't. The sea went on for miles with nothing but waves straight ahead, but she turned her head to the left. There was a ship with white sails on the horizon. A large ship, maybe 100 guns. "You're joking." She got up and ran to the organ room, where Patella was sitting, and playing one note at a time. "We have a ship on the horizon, coming this way."

"And what ship may that be?"

"The _Endeavour_"

Patella stood up quickly and walked outside. The wind blew her tentacles of hair behind her, and Payton's seaweed like hair stuck to the side of her face. The wind was in the _Endeavour'_s favor, pushing them toward the _Dutchman_. "Mama is going to be furious when she finds out."

* * *

Thomas walked into James's office once again. "Ah, there you are."

"Yes, sir?"

"Your father was a very close friend of mine, and he left a few of his possessions in my care after his death. He told me to keep them until the appropriate time."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand, sir."

James rose from his seat, gripping his cane around the top where a metal ball was melted onto the handle. He walked over to a closet and he opened it up, revealing a Naval uniform, that of a captain. James had worn a similar one after he was promoted. "This, Thomas, was your father's uniform. He asked me to pass it on to you, when I was sure that it would fit." He took it off the shelves and handed them to Thomas. "They may seem like just clothes, but-"

"They are more than that. Part of my father, they are. They are more than just clothes."

"Try them on." James sat back down and looked down at his papers while Thomas changed his waistcoat and frock. He took off his tricorner hat and replaced it with his father's. The clothes were still a little loose, but his father was a very husky man, unlike Thomas at his current age. James looked up. "Excellent. You take the place of your father."

"I can never take his place, sir."

"Yes, I'm sorry. But now you play his role. I've been watching you on this voyage and I'm very impressed with your efforts. Now, this is something I wish to give to you." He pointed to a table on the wall by the door. There was a long box. "You new station deserves a new friend."

Thomas turned his head and looked over at a long box. "I know what this is," He thought to himself. He unhooked the latch on the box and opened it and there was a sword. He took it out carefully and put it on his belt. He unsheathed it and looked at it. It was better than any sword he had handled before.

James looked out the window at the fast approaching _Dutchman._ "You have some unfinished business to attend to." Thomas smiled as he left the room. "Oh, and Thomas?" He skidded back into the room. "Send in Chelsea and Marina, please."

* * *

The _Endeavour_ pulled up next to the _Dutchman,_ and Payton was shocked at its size. It was just a bit smaller than the _Dutchman_, while the _Pearl_ was about half the size. The Marines boarded, and it shocked the crewmembers of the _Dutchman_. Patella and Payton pushed through the crowd to the front line. They waited until the back of the line was on the ship. Then three figures emerged from the mass of Marines, and Payton knew all of them. 

"Steadeh," Chelsea said to two young soldiers in her cockney accent. She came and stood just in front of Patella. Her dress had changed drastically from a white bonnet, apron and maroon dress that reached her ankles, to a lieutenant's uniform that fit her figure, with the belt tight around her waist and the waistcoat folding around there as well. The coat hung to her knees and her breaches were cream in color. Behind her was Marina in a similar outfit, only a bit larger to fit her height and next to Marina was Thomas, in a captain's uniform.

"Go! All of you! You have no right to be here!" Patella said.

"I'm sorry to hear that! Because I believe that I do!" Thomas spoke up. Payton noticed a change in his voice. It had more power in it, more inflection. "Now you listen," he said, unsheathing what Payton recognized as her grandfather's sword. "We wish to ask your crew of details of a murder."

"The previous captain killed many, and your father is no exception." Thomas dropped his sword.

"We need prisoners to interrogate, which tends to work best if they're alive."

"Then you should interview your own men quickly, because they aren't going to be alive much longer. SEIZE THEM!" The crewmembers did not hesitate. Payton looked around as each crew member of the _Dutchman_ had a sword or pistol to one or two men's necks to heads. Then she saw her grandfather, who was behind Chelsea, get grabbed by the two head. Payton thought of a line she had heard from Beckett when he was telling story with a similar situation.

"The _Dutchman_ sails as its captain commands."

"And its captain is to sail it as commanded!" Thomas replied as he tried to break free of Clanker's grasp. Payton drew back slightly. She had all the information she needed.

"Lock 'em up." Each one of the Marines was taken down below deck without their guns. Payton took Thomas's sword and when her grandfather passed, she received a cooling glare from him. The soldiers' guns were thrown into a pile and swords were confiscated and worn by the crew. The _Endeavour_ was tied to the stern of the _Dutchman_. As all of this happened, Payton thought "This happened before…with different ships…"

That night, Thomas sat on the floor of the medium sized cell. His back was against the wall, the barnacles and wood debris feeling like stones pushed into his back. He fiddled with a piece of fabric on his sleeve. Every time he looked up at James, he'd get a quick, neutral glance. "I've soiled my father's name haven't I?"

"You sure have, you brat!" Marina shouted.

"Marina, settle," James said. "Thomas, I didn't expect you to be able to take that situation on by yourself. Your father couldn't command an entire fleet at his age, and you can't command an entire ship at yours."

"But you said it was the appropriate time!"

"It's only a learning opportunity." Thomas sighed and looked between his knees. He heard someone coming down below. He looked over and saw a boy with seaweed hair and greenish skin. He took a key off his belt and unlocked the door.

"Come with me…quickly!" The Marines filed out quietly. Payton received a "thank you" from Chelsea and Marina, who were probably overwhelmed by the situation of being contained with dozens of men in a small room. Thomas slowed when he got to the door. Payton took the sword off her belt. "I believe this is yours." Thomas took it and hung it at his hip. "Come on."

Payton took them around the side of the boat to where the ropes connected the two ships. "Go, go!" she said, moving her arms to get them moving. "Don't worry about your guns, go!"

Chelsea, Marina, Thomas and James were the last there, and most of the Marines had made it to the _Endeavour_. Thomas stopped. "Thank you for this. May I ask your name?"

"Payton."

"I know a girl named Payton. Lovely girl. Good head on her shoulders." Payton saw Marina roll her eyes

"Sounds like a girl worth liking. Don't do anything to lose her." Thomas looked down.

"What's going on?!" Payton looked up and saw Patella disappear.

"Go, GO!" Chelsea and Marina started first going hand over hand, leg over leg on the ropes. James followed carefully. Payton kept on eye on him. Thomas took the sword off his belt. "You take this."

"Why?" Payton asked.

"Because that piece of scrap won't get you far on this ship." Payton smiled slightly and took it.

"Get out of here, now!" Thomas took some nervous breathes as he walked back against the railing and grabbed the line. He climbed up on the railing slowly and started moving his hands back as far as he could go.

"You remind me of Payton back home. Your attitude and your expressions."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Oh yes."

Payton heard footsteps approaching. "Go, now!" Thomas blinked and swung his legs up onto the line just as Patella rounded the corner.

"What in the world are you doing?"

"Why do you want them locked up?!"

"Because if they aren't, they'll come back and attack us again."

"But you stripped them of their weapons!" Payton drew the sword Thomas had given her. "But I still have mine." Then Patella started messing with her mind.

"Part of the crew, part of the ship. Part of the crew, part of the ship."

"Stand down."

"Part of the crew, part of the ship." She spoke faster with each phrase.

"STAND DOWN!" Payton snuck glances from Patella to the others. Out of desperation, he cut the lines with her sword. She heard Chelsea and Marina scream, followed by dozens of splashes. She saw Thomas fall into the water and James just in front of him. After recovering from pain, they swam toward Marina and Chelsea to help them, knowing they couldn't swim. Next thing she knew, she was overcome by a stinging pain. Payton fell to the floor screaming. Patella had thrown rum on her face.

"Tamed like a mongrel dog."

Thomas looked over at Payton as when he heard the scream. It almost wasn't masculine. _It can't be__. But now he probably knows who I get my true power from. I stole his dialogue._


End file.
